Cornus Red Pygmy®

The first truly dwarf red-flowered dogwood, this ruddy darling stays under 3 feet for about 5 years and tops out at just about 7 feet. Compact enough to fit in places where other varieties would run amok, like a tight border or even a patio garden, it is the perfect accent for those smaller spaces where full-sized trees cannot grow.

Despite its short stature, Red Pygmy still produces normal-sized C. florida blooms that are 3 inches across (or more). These lovely red cross-shaped blooms (actually bracts) are a pink-to-red color tipped in white. The extremely floriferous, dense heads of floral bracts create quite a spectacle on the dwarf foliage. These blooms appear around late May and hold on for 3 weeks or more.

This blushing darling will warm up any landscape with its rosy pink blooms in late spring and burnished red-orange leaves in fall. Let it grace your border, driveway, or path, and it will reward you with years of carmine colors. It even produces a bright red ornamental fruit in the fall.

Red Pygmy can be grown in well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. It prefers moist, organically rich, acidic soils and will benefit from a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch, which helps keep the roots cool and moist in summer.

This plant exhibits great cold hardiness in field tests in Zone 6. Give it full sun in the North and part-shade in the South.